<\/p>\n
\nMatthew 21:18 \u00a0\u00a0In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, \u201cMay no fruit ever come from you again!\u201d And the fig tree withered at once. When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, \u201cHow did the fig tree wither at once?\u201d And Jesus answered them, \u201cTruly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, Be taken up and thrown into the sea,\u2019 it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span>Matthew 17:20<\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0He said to them, \u201cBecause of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, \u2018Move from here to there,\u2019 and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span>Mark 11:22-23<\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0And Jesus answered them, \u201cHave faith in God.\u00a0\u00a0Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, \u2018Be taken up and thrown into the sea,\u2019 and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span>Romans 4:19-20<\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.\u00a0\u00a0No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span>James 1:6<\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span>1 John 5:14-15<\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.\u00a0\u00a0And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span>John 15:7<\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
This cursing of the barren fig-tree represents the state of hypocrites in general, and so teaches us that Christ looks for the power of religion in those who profess it, and the savour of it from those that have the show of it. His just expectations from flourishing professors are often disappointed; he comes to many, seeking fruit, and finds leaves only. A false profession commonly withers in this world, and it is the effect of Christ’s curse. The fig-tree that had no fruit, soon lost its leaves. This represents the state of the nation and people of the Jews in particular. Our Lord Jesus found among them nothing but leaves. And after they rejected Christ, blindness and hardness grew upon them, till they were undone, and their place and nation rooted up. The Lord was righteous in it. Let us greatly fear the doom denounced on the barren fig-tree. (Henry)<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can only believe for a thing when we are in such union with God that his thought and purpose can freely flow into us, suggesting what we should pray for, and leading us to that point in which there is a perfect sympathy and understanding between us and the divine mind. Faith is always the product of such a frame as this.\u201d (Meyer)<\/p>\n
If a person takes a shallow dive into this passage they can walk away with the opinion and thought that God is their “magic genie in a bottle” to grant their wishes as they request. Many will preach this same thought and give eloquent words to support such thoughts – \u201cif only you had more faith\u201d – \u201cyou can move the mountains blocking your life\u201d – \u201cBy faith all things are possible\u201d – \u201cJesus said it and you can do it if you have enough faith\u201d – and many others like them.\u00a0 <\/span>What is missing in these thoughts about having faith that can move a mountain is:<\/p>\n
\n
- Am I leaving room for God\u2019s purpose and sovereignty?<\/li>\n
- Am I seeking His will?<\/li>\n
- Am I desiring His will be done?<\/li>\n
- Am I listening to the soul-deep quiet whispers of the Holy Spirits leading?<\/li>\n
- Am I living in sin or with unconfessed sin?<\/li>\n
- Am I more interested in my will than God\u2019s will?<\/li>\n
- Am I studying by myself to be a workman of God and rightly dividing the word of truth?<\/li>\n
- Am I in line with God\u2019s Word?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
God is able to do more than we ask and much more than we can imagine. He is All-Powerful, All-Knowing, and All-Present. He is God Almighty, no one or nothing is greater than He is. The Bible gives numerous accounts of His sovereignty, power, and control over all of His creation. To think He is at our beckoning command to do all we ask, though He can, is not having a basic foundational understanding of His sovereignty, will, and purposes over His creation. Shadrach<\/b>,\u00a0Meshach<\/b>,\u00a0and<\/b>\u00a0Abednego <\/b>trusted God and were determined to be faithful without any guarantee of deliverance. In their faith, they left room for God\u2019s will. \u00a0\u201c<\/b>Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up<\/b><\/span>.\u201d This is faith in God and leaving the outcome in His hands.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
When we seek to honor and glorify Jesus Christ let our Faith be ever-growing in God and place our reliance on the outcome of our requests in His hands, for His purpose and plans. He sent His Son to redeem us! He did this out of His great mercy, grace, and love.\u00a0 <\/span>Will He not, out of this same great mercy, grace, and love, do what is absolutely perfect for our lives? Let our requests be full of unyielding and abounding faith and humbly placed at His feet knowing that He hears us, we are His children, and He will graciously, mercifully, and lovingly accomplish His will and purpose, for He can do more than we ask and much more than we can imagine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Matthew 21:18 \u00a0\u00a0In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, \u201cMay no fruit ever come from you again!\u201d And the fig tree withered at … Continue reading “34.r.”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3147,4083,2633,204,223,2,8112,162,530,76,2855,4,3719,21,15809,165,15810,7591,4956,500,15752,15807,125,362,7545,3916,15808],"class_list":["post-142915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-prayers","tag-abide","tag-abraham","tag-ask","tag-confidence","tag-disciples","tag-faith","tag-fig-tree","tag-fruit","tag-glory","tag-god","tag-hears","tag-heart","tag-his-will","tag-impossible","tag-impossilbe","tag-jesus","tag-leaves","tag-little-faith","tag-marveled","tag-mountain","tag-mustard-seed","tag-no-doubting","tag-prayer","tag-receive","tag-sarah","tag-sea","tag-tossed-by-the-wind"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142915"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142915\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":142996,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142915\/revisions\/142996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}